Terry Day

We recently returned from a seven-day holiday on the MS Royal Esadora and thoroughly enjoyed it. We are writing this review to counter balance some of the negative reports that we read concerning Egypt as a holiday destination. It concerned us so much that up until the last minute we were considering cancelling the holiday and losing our money. How pleased we are that we didn’t.

We have never been on a Nile cruise before so were not sure what to expect. The ship was clean, more than acceptable, and with a good size cabin (number 405). I’m not sure what the situation was concerning lower decks and towards the back of the boat but certainly noise and smells were not something that we experienced. Neither did we hear any other passengers complaining about it.

We found the staff to be polite, helpful and friendly. There was a tipping system recommended by Classic Holidays in which we participated (I wish they had just added it to the price of the holiday) so there was no need for anybody to do more than just that. However such was the courtesy and service that we received that everybody on our table tipped the wine waiter as, I believe, they did with the cabin boy and bar staff.

The food was acceptable with a salad bar, freshly cooked pasta, hot buffet and a large choice of deserts at both lunch and dinner. Very few dishes were repeated although with the limited number of ingredients available some were variants of some that we had seen previously. The food never ran out and as soon as a dish got near to empty it was replaced with fresh one.

We debated whether to take the all-inclusive drinks package and upon reflection are pleased that we did. You need to manage your supplies of bottled water so that you always have something to take out with you on visits but that is hardly difficult provided you ask for a couple bottles of water at breakfast, lunch and dinner. We thought it a bit pointless that nothing is included on the all-inclusive package between breakfast and 11:30 as you are normally out on trips during those hours. It really isn’t that much of a problem. Wine is only served in the restaurant but as you are allowed to take it to your room and/or the bar with a little bit of planning and a fridge you can overcome this limitation.

The trips out and the visits to the temples were amazing and our guide Safwat was very knowledgeable and bought them all to life.

Prior to going to Egypt we were concerned about the street sellers who hassle you whenever you get off the bus or go through a market. Provided that you do not get engaged in conversation with them and firmly say “no thank you” and keep moving they soon disappear. In fact some of them are quite amusing with expressions such as “cheaper than Asda”.

If you get the opportunity to take the evening horse carriage ride in Luxor do it. How the driver (Del boy) managed to get through the streets in the old market without killing somebody is still a source of amazement.

Towards the end of the holiday we even had sympathy for the boys who try to take your bag at Luxor airport. Although we declined their offer upon reflection perhaps we shouldn’t have. There is no benefits system in Egypt and these people are desperate and are prepared to work. To be at the airport in the early hours of the morning in the hope of carrying a tourist’s bag to earn a pound is no more than I would do in similar circumstance. Upon reflection even if we had given £20 in tips to people who were trying to earn a crust it would have made no difference to us but probably would have to them.

In conclusion Egypt is a wonderful place and we had a fantastic holiday. It might be too soon to go back next year but we certainly would consider it in the future.